Go home for the holidays

Go home for the holidays

Newmarket

Amanda Persico

WHAT: Pickering College Holiday Home Tour.
WHEN: Self-directed tour Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
WHERE: Go to pickeringcollege.on.ca for list of homes
INFORMATION: Call Pickering College at 905-895-1700.

he halls are decked and the trees are trimmed in elegance and grace.

The fourth annual holiday home tour, hosted by Pickering College, gets unwrapped this weekend.

Fireplace mantels and evergreen trees are adorned with bows and holly as local decorators, designers and florists dress up seven different homes in Newmarket, Aurora and Stouffville in spirited Christmas attire.

Funds raised from the six- hour, self-directed tour help purchase new school buses and 10 per cent of the proceeds go toward the Maternal Child Care Program at Southlake Regional Health Centre.

To date, the holiday home tour has raised more than $150,000, event co-chairperson Karen Whetstone said.

“(The tour) is a prelude to the excitement and happiness during the holiday season,” she said.

Each home is decorated by a different designer with a different theme.

The idea behind the tour is to find great designs, locally.

“It’s bringing old Christmas decorations back in fashion with modern designs,” Ms Whetstone said. “When the designers move out, we still want it to feel like a home.”

This year’s feature home, Christmas at the Chateau in the Barbuto home in Stouffville, is decorated in true French grandiose, with rich colours and lavish decorations.

“It’s a European Christmas, lots of reds and French blues of Louis XIV,” said designer Sandra Lianos of Lianos Interiors, the company selected to decorate the home. “It’s not the reindeer and Santa stuff.”

The Barbuto home was designed with different quarters in mind, much like the different quarters of Versailles.  

“You don’t have to go downtown to find uptown design and style,” Ms Whetstone said.

Designers and florists, who decorated the homes, as well as Christmas craft vendors will be on hand at the Seasonal Boutique and Cafe in Pickering College to demonstrate how designs featured on the tour can be mastered in your home.

The Seasonal Boutique and Cafe is open to ticket holders and the public.

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